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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — of a king
  4. spell — magic
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. spell — letters
  9. branch — a division
  10. board — a committee
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cold — an illness
  13. race — the arms race
  14. spell — a short time
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. press — newspapers
  17. press — a publisher
  18. court — for sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. press — to push
  21. bass — low music
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. court — of law
  24. board — to get on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com